Degrading Woman by PR

Pavitra Rishta which had started out as a refreshingly diffrent serial has today joined the other serials in degrading the role of women in Indian society .

Archana : The crime for which Archana is being mercilessly flogged emotionally and to an extent physically too , is for daring to doubt her husband Manav after a 15 day , physically non consummated yet arranged marraige . OMG she actually DARED to Doubt . OMG she actually behaved normally ! The hussy , she needs to be flogged and hauled over coals is the underlying message ........to which Ekta Kapoor and her band of creatives will of course NEVER agree in interviews . But whatever they say , it is there .

Just see how our mind is moulded and trained by these idiotic serials and hindi films . The feeling against Archana when she went to her moms house and did not speak to Manav as he had no substantial proof is not applauded as a step of common sense but sparked off fury in viewers ..........chauvinistic males , and even more chauvinistic female viewers . Yes , I will use the word chauvinism here even with females as some of the arguments advanced for this were indeed stunning .

The most popular argument was , love or arranged marraige doesnt matter , a certain trust has to be there . And Archana didnt show it . What is a shaadi without trust , she didnt trust Manav so now she has to pay .

In Hindi serials , this trust comes with the mangalsutra being tied around the neck and the wedding ring exchanging fingers . It seems these ornaments r magic and trust spurts inside a human being like a water fountain . She has to discard her brain , reasoning powers and blindly trust her husband who is equivalent to GOD . If not , well SHE LOSES HIM TO ANOTHER WOMAN AS THEY R LINED UP LIKE DESPERADOES to get married . The marraige is then rubbed in the normal girls face day and night till she shows guilt , remorse and even hell doesnt have a corner for her !

Mangalsutra and wedding rings r ornaments got at a jewellery shop that become sanctified as the marraige gets older and becomes more and more solid . Trust comes with time , it doesnt come the moment seven rounds around a fire r taken or these rnaments r tied around a girl some hours after they leave the counter of a jewellery shop . So expecting Archana to implicitly trust Manav was RIDICULOUS right from the start . I mean , why should she ? Ashwin is married too , but he is coolly living a double life while his wife is working her butt off in the US . Even he has tied a mangalsutra around her neck . Look where her trust got her . Ajits fiancee , till the wedding was broken , was trying to trust Ajit . Was it so wrong of them to become wary and demand an explanation ?

Marraiges of twenty five years or more r often broken as double lives of husbands or wives are revealed . So what stupid trust factor is Pavitra Rishta Talking about ? For trust to come , it takes many experiences with your life partner and Archana had just fifteen days !

Manav : Manav is epitomised as the man , the saviour who 'saves' woman and redeems her . The Woman is Shravani . He is the GOD that Archana spurned and so the curse of misery befalls Archana . No one must ever dare and doubt a man .

Does Woman really need redemption or saving by a man ? Shravani , an educated girl from US needs Manav to redeem her . With her qualifcations , fathers financial support she could easily raise her child hundred times better than Manav and his dysfunctional family ...........with the abuse that goes there , for that child to witness and grow up . It is Mumbai , it is not a remote village in the Sahyadri hills , or UP or Bihar Or Rajashthan ! Alternatives are there in this metropolis........thousands of them . Nice guys are there like Satish who are willing to marry even unwed moms , and there are many women who live alone and bring their children up alone without the help of any in laws or maayka or a man . They are the Jhansi ki Ranis who get in local trains at rush hour and make it to their jobs and r not just equal but sometimes much more than two men put together ! But Shravani needs a man . Manav is the man who is constantly 'saving ' . First he saved Manohar . Then Varsha . Now Shravani .

Moral of the story : Man saves . Woman needs Saving . Without man woman is incomplete .

The saving of Manohar and Varsha by Manav r two great acts for which Archu was supposed to be grateful and endure abuse from Savita for the rest of her life in her marital life . I can understand the grateful part . But in what way do these acts guarantee marital happiness for a girl who has an abusive mother in law ? I still dont get it .

Archu is pushed around in the house , called bhikaran , given food by throwing it at her like a beggar........yet Shravni and Vandita.......two young women , do not speak up for her . Why would Shravni want to continue living in a house that clearly displays abuse in front of her eyes ? Why isnt she shocked to the core as a woman , why isnt she insulted mentally as a woman by seeing Archanas abuse ? She did social work and taught in a night school .........is this her sense of social awareness ?

The tormentor Manju is safe and snug in her palatial flat , unarrested due to a pregnancy that elevated her . Does pregnancy redeem a woman ? It redeemed Shravani and Manju both . Their value increased coz they r pregnant just like a cow's value increases after its delivery as its udders yield milk . No one calls Shravani charitraheen . But Archabna who is a virgin is characterless .

So the answer is ,quickly get pregnant and men will come under your control . Two things save a woman .........man and her child .

But a woman is much more than this . Look at Varsha , who needs no one . She hasnt lost her feminity and yet she refused marraige only as she was burnt out and not ready for it . I applaud Varsha ........but serial makers think it is the Archus who draw the moolah .

I dont mind forgiving a man who puts sindoor to protect a girl in front of his non divorced wife to placate his mom , but then the serials shud show a woman getting sindoor put in her maang in front of her undivorced husband by another man to placate HER mom . Is this possible ? NEVER RIGHT ?
There will be gasps in society at such a portrayal of a hussy ! So then why the hell shud Manav be forgiven ?

The blatant chauvinistic message is a woman needs a man to redeem her ...........ARchana who watches this mutely and Shravni who gets redeemed are both pathetic portrayals of woman .

Incidentally , the hero , Manav , has done no noble act but bigamy to placate his mom .

And OH YES . MAHARASHTRIANS DO NOT PUT SINDOOR IN MAANG IT IS A NORTHIE TRADITION . CHECK YOUR FACTS PR people .

The sad part is Ekta Kapoor , whose creative team showed this degradation of women , is herself an unmarried woman who is soap queen and has made history in being such an excellent business woman without the help of any male . What Ekta has achieved in TV business has not been acieved by any man even , and yet this portrayal of women in her shows ?

They should have stuck to the Tamil version , they destroyed the Pavitra Rishta .

koolsadhu great post and totally agree with you...i hope archana's character changes for the better and does not require manav's support and hope manav is subjected to the same treatment as archu is now

My question is-is this really how indians in this century treat young women? Because these soaps must have some sense of reality in them..if this is the case then all i have to say is THANK GOD my ancestor, a young wife with three young children, after having a similar problem with her in laws, left her mama boy husband, took her three children and got on a boat headed to an unknown country in the other side of the world, the west indies, as an indentured laborer more than 150 years ago, now her generation are west indians of east indian descent, brought up with proper values in a western society. From my observation, the majority of people watching these soaps are young people, why then would these creative choose to show this type of behavior, what kind of message are they sending out to these youths. SHAME ON YOU ALL!!! Are you indians NOT trying to get out of this third world status. Well in my opinion with these type of shows coming out of india, you people will remain stuck in this status with backward behaviors. I wanted to say more but as usual Kools beat me to it. Just my opinion..replies welcomed.

Oh god, koolsadhu, awesome post. Each and every point is bang on true. Indeed, PR is no longer the sweet show that it was earlier.

I too agree with every word . I am a big archana fan but these days I am ashamed of the fact that she is taking all this abuse by Savita as if it is her duty to do so , only because savita is Manav's mother . To hell with love . There should be no compromise on self respect . At least Archana can give the excuse that I am not well educated and have always had some sort of complex in my family . never went to college so there is definite low self esteem here in my case . What is Shravani's excuse ? She is a pathetic woman , absolutely pathetic . And she is supposed to be rich , well educated blah blah blah .

In fact koolsadhu, when this serial started, i was so happy that it gave more respect and honour to the girl's side- that it was a big, big responsibility and honour to marry a good, respectable girl and so the boy, if he truly loves her, must stand true on a number of counts- be able to provide for her well, have a family atmosphere which would permit her to live well, give her a certain reputation in society, be of a good character and finally, give her unconditional love and support. The reason I liked it when this was shown was cos the life of a woman changes dramatically after marriage- her husbands doesn't. So rather than the grooms side being fussy about the girl, it is the right of the bride's side to make sure that she will be happy after marriage. The beauty of the serial was that the lead hero failed miserably on the first three counts, which in society are seen as most important while fixing a match. His excellent character and his love are his strong points on which he is determined to make his marriage work. The former comes under the scanner when he is falsely accused. So it is upto him to win against circumstances with what he has- the love for the girl. So far, so well, and absolutely right. But from here, the serial just continued to get bad. My three most hated points right now in the serial: 1.) Archana can fight with bangle sellers, Manju, even her Mom, but she cannot get a word in with Savita. She continues to take in her tortures. Alright, maybe she is meek, but then why the hell do they show her touching her feet? Working in the kitchen? Frustrates me to no extent. Another word is about the tortures Savita inflicts upon her. Ok, so the serial makers want to show that Manav wants Archu to hate him a lot and move on in life without him, so he doesn't defend his wife (except when he loses control-like Savita manhandling Archu or Savita calling Archu or beggar or Savita forcing Archu to make the complaint). Silly excuse, but ok, fair enough. But then why can't they show Damodar defending her and shouting at Savita, who has openly said that Archu is like a daughter to him and he supports her. Is this how he supports her? For that matter, none of the family members (Kaka, Vandu, Shravani) are even bothered. Why is Savita's anger considered acceptable just becos she lost her son. At this rate, she will go kill Archu one day and everyone will say, try to understand, she just lost her son. 2.) Manav chooses responsibility over his love, Archu does not haul him over the coals even once saying I understand that circumstances have changed and you are doing your best to save your family but where does this leave ME?? Why should I suffer from the mistakes your dysfunctional family has made. Wasn't it bad that I had to tolerate them that now I have to tolerate their mistakes too? Why can't we see a bit of much-justified anger here rather than a show of 'I'm paying for my mistake'. Oh, yes, she's the lead character, she has to be shown as meek and mahaan. Great, then at least have her saying this to Manav in an emotional moment. At least something would make him realise the injustice he is doing. 3.) Manav deciding about Archu's happiness without consulting her.- Now maybe in the serial they want to show it as 'he loves her a lot and would do anything to keep her happy.' Manav signs the divorce papers for Archu's happiness.. without realising HE IS Archu's happiness! Then he decides to make a show of hating her so that she can move on with life after he gets divorced. Maybe the serial makers want to highlight that this is their mutual love. Agreed and appreciated thinking from the protagonist's point of view. But my personal opinion is- do the serial makers ever consider a little thing called common sense and real reactions to extreme situations. Both these situations were extremely serious and could have caused a simple, uneducated girl to commit suicide (infact when the news of Archu's accident came, I at first thought that she must have jumped off the terrace herself cos of the sindoor filling disaster). A sensitive guy like Manav wasn't shown thinking of this at all... especially in the second situation when he knows how madly his wife loves him. why couldn't they have shown him counselling Archana instead, explaining to her that it was impossible for her to live in that house, that she had bright future prospects in a job, an education and maybe marriage with a nice guy like Satish, and so for her, her family's and his own sake, she has to move on in life. That would have kept the romance alive, shown that the husband actually helps his wife realise the truth of life and gives her strength and yet not made it look bad.A serious flaw!!! There are many more things but these are the things that are coming to mind right now. PS: Really sorry for this pathetic spacing, I don't know why this problem is coming up, weird!

. Why would Shravni want to continue living in a house that clearly displays abuse in front of her eyes ? Why isnt she shocked to the core as a woman , why isnt she insulted mentally as a woman by seeing Archanas abuse ? She did social work and taught in a night school .........is this her sense of social awareness ?

SHRAVANI IS SELFISH.... BETTER TO SAY SHE'S 'BECOME' SELFISH SEEING MANAV READY TO MARRY HER.... MAY BE SHE'S CONCERNED FOR A 'RESPECTABLE' LIFE FOR HER CHILD OR MAY BE SHE ALSO WANTS A RESPECTABLE,SECURE LIFE FOR HERSELF..... A EVEN IF IT COMES AT THE PRICE OF ARCHANA-MANAV'S HAPPINESS.... OTHERWISE SHRAVNI CAN JUST LEAVE,GIVE BIRTH TO HER BABY REMOTELY IF SHE REALLY LOVES SACHIN AND WANTS TO LIVE FOR HIS SAKE AND HIS CHILD ,JUST TREASURING THE MEMORIES OF THEM BEING TOGETHER ALL HER LIFE!

@ Koolsadhu: spot on, babe. (I'm assuming it's babe and not dude, given the feminist voice I hear; correct me if I'm wrong.) @The Balaji lot: be warned. Very soon Sushant Rajput's attractions won't be enough to keep even the most brainless or the most orthodox/indoctrinated women viewers loyal to PR. And I'm tired of reading posts saying Archana should do this, Manav should do that, Shravani is selfish, Savita's a bitch etc. They aren't real people, they're characters. The true villains are on the creative team, writers with no sense of social responsibility and no qualms about deviating wildly from the plausible.

Great post Koolsadhu (and everyone who replied)! I wasn't planning on commenting on IF/PR much today, but this post really caught my attention. [This isn't to anyone in particular, but what in the world is up with the spacing? Everything is being shifted left and spaces between paragraphs aren't showing up at all.]

This show has become highly derogatory towards women, and its a complete blasphemy the way that the creatives are portraying how the women themselves treat each other on this show. I was becoming happy that they are showing a strong Archana who can stand up for herself in front of her aai and vahini, but then she comes back to the Deshmukh's and its like she went back 5 years. Gone is the studying, working, progressive Archana and back is the ritual of cooking, cleaning, and bending to Savita's will, and now we can add in falling off of a terrace whlist hanging clothes to dry. Really? REALLY? Is this all that the so called "creatives" could come up with? If they had any sense they might have realized that the track with a stronger Archana was bringing in the high TRPs (as that is all that they are really after, a decent storyline and social responsibility can just suck it). [New Paragraph!] Shravani is... pathetic. When she was introduced I thought, finally, someone to put Savita in her place, but I guess not. I was hoping that the creatives would put her character to some use by showing that she was just using Manav to get to her second trimester so that she wouldn't have to abort. That would have been a lovely slap on Savita's face and even Manav's. I was expecting her to walk out at some point in the beginning of her fourth month going (well not literally like this, but just for fun...), "What now suckas?!?! My child and I don't need any of you. I don't want your pity Manav, and Savita you are a sorry excuse for a woman. [Add in some more bhashan, whatever you'd like to hear her say.] Peace out, hope to never see any of you again!" Its unbelievable that she sits in front of the mirror admiring her sindoor and mangalsutra when she knows full well how much Archana and Manav love each other, want to be with each other, and are legally and religiously married. How sick must these creatives be to show that this woman is taking away the rightful place of another woman with full knowledge? [New Paragraph!] I also dislike how they are wanting Manav to be on a pedestal as Archana's God and Shravani's saviour, it just completely wrong. He recently (and quite angrily) told Archana that she cannot walk in and out of relationships at her whim, but what the hell is he doing right now? He may not view it like that, but that's what it looks like to me. He's leaving Archana and promising Shravani marriage now, but sooner or later he's going to walk out on Shravani and go right back to Archana. [New Line!] I'm surprised this show hasn't been attacked by any human or women's rights groups yet.